New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1887-12-24


The disrcputc Of partSanship in the conduct
Of the American Navy is noscd abroad. In
cincefng." one Of the c>t-informcd and most
carefully edited weekly journals in England,
contains this reference to the armament Of the
Roach cruisers 81
Contracts have Lrcn made with two leading ,irol
companies tho for the forginss Of moro than
a hundred guns so tho United States may now DO
Looked upon a. a power whore doubt very rapid de-
yclopmcnt VIII 60 IN th, department of war mate
rial, ~ not I'm many others. ono very remarkable
evidence OF the Hcrcencss Of political luminosity IS
shown by the report Ourcau Of Ordnance that IS Con
grcssoual inacion to provide funds for tho completion
Of tho ornaments for what known a. the d" new or
Roach cru.scrs7 which seriously attacked bJ
the present Administration when # came into power.
While the attacks have been proved to bc wholly un-
Just and purely political by the excellent results that
have been obtained with tho ships that have been al
lowed 10 bo tested tho Naval Ordnance Hureau has
been crippled by the Democrats refusing to vote funds
for the completion Of the work begun
AS the Administration likes 10 stand well IN
England. this acrid rcbullc Of the parisan,hip
displayed by the Secretary Of the Navy Will be-
an unpleasant surprise. Nevertheless it is just
and well deserved The attacks made by the
| Democratic Administration upon the Roach
vessels were purely political and wholly I'M
just. as this English critic remarks. and were
! insigatcd for the sole purpose Of diScrcditIng
! Secretary Whitncy's Republican predecessors
and running wcll-known and cntcrprislng
| shpbuldcr, who happened to be n strong Pro-
| tcctionist Republican. 1t is also true, rs " En-
! ginccring' states. that the injustice Of these
| partisan assaults has been proved by the cx-
/ ccicnt results that have been obtained with
] Le chi IN
handled on the trial trips with view to OBJ
tanning the best possible results, is nvari-
ably done in England when new vessel is
tested; but even with partial and inadequate
| trials Of speed and horse power. when the De-
partmcnt was known to desire unfayorlblc con-
| ditOns and to be Indifferent TO the success Of
the cruisers, they have been shown TO be
superior in speed and horsepower to the con-
| tract requirements The Dolphin, Atlanta.
Boston and Chicago are faster and better yes
sells than their designers expected they would
prove. The Chicago was built rs "A fourteen
| knot cruiser; and last week she made nearly
seventeen knots in a single hour, with foul
| bottom that seriously intcrGcrcd with speed
All these vessels. which have been fcrociouNly
aSSailed by the Administration and lis naval
| favortcs and plrtSanS are well worth the
money expended upon them. They are fine
additions to the Navy, and would be generally
regarded to-day as successful ventures in
modern ShipbuiIdng if partisan hue and cry
! had not been raised against them by Secretary
Whitney and his supcrscrvccablc zcalotS.
! The English journals structures on Congress
Sional inactlon respecting requisite appropria-
tions for the completion Of the armamcnts are
based upon the report Of the Bureau Of Ord
nance. That there have been delay and ncgi-
| gcncc in this matter is probable but we sus-
| pcct that the Bureau Of Ordnance has cXaggcr-
atcd its grievances for the sake Of covering its
own ncapacity and mismanagcmcnt. Secretary
Whitney in his annual report states that all
except six Of the guns for the four cruisers
have been finished and that the six can be
completed in "A few months. This does not in
dictate that Congress has been seriously at fault
in delaying appropriations Certainly, the
| Bureau Of Ordnance cannot explain away cx-
traordinary errors Of judgment shown in mount
| ing the Atlanta's guns rs the result Of made
| quatc appropriations. The Democratic Con-
grcss is "a beast Of burden, more or less docilc,
but il will be likely to kick, like the Allanta's
| own kicking guns if il be held responsible for
tho rash experiments, incXpcricncc and mex
plcablc inaction Of some Of the naval bureaus.